Name in Turkmen music: on the 120th anniversary of the birth of Purli Saryev
A creative evening with a concert was held at the Turkmen National Conservatory to celebrate the 120th anniversary of the birth of remarkable musician, People’s Artist of Turkmenistan Purli Saryev.
During the evening, popular musicians addressed the audience from the stage, having briefly told about the brightest pages of Purli Saryev’s heritage, his path in art. The floor was also given to Shamuhammet Saryev, the son of the outstanding musician, who shared his memories of his father.
…Purli Saryev was born in 1900 in the Akhal village of Bamy, in the family of famous musician of his time Sary bakhshi. Continuing the creative path of his father, the young musician, together with his brothers Oraz and Nury (who also became famous musicians), began to learn to play the Turkmen folk instruments such as dutar and gidjak.
Like Mylly Tachmuradov, Purli Saryev also became a student of talented musician and teacher Kel bakhshi, adopting from him strict traditions of performing complex melodies of large form.
Since 1929, Purli Saryev, together with Mylly Tachmuradov, from the first days of the opening of the art technical school in Ashgabat, had begun to teach young musicians there playing dutar and gidjak. In teaching his students, he paid special attention to their ability to read musical notes. He believed that it was the penetration into the foundations of music theory that contributed to the development of professional musicians.
Among the graduates of Purli Saryev, there could be mentioned such musicians, composers, people’s artists and honored workers of Turkmenistan as Geldy Ugurliyev, Ashir Kuliyev, Gurban Kuliyev, Annageldy Julgayev, Veli Ahmedov, who later remembered their teacher with the kindest words.
At the same time, Purli Saryev began working at the State Radio Committee of Turkmenistan as a performer - dutar and gidjak player. It took him a little time to organize an ensemble of folk instruments at the radio committee, which he led for more than thirty years.
At the same time, in 1933 and 1934, Purli Saryev, together with Setrak Tumanyan, created an orchestra of folk instruments. Tumanyan became the chief conductor, and Saryev was the artistic director of the ensemble. In association with Georgy Arakelyan, he enriches the orchestra’s repertoire with adaptations of Turkmen, Azerbaijani, Uzbek, Armenian and Tajik folk melodies, including such popular compositions as “Nergiz”, “White donkey”, “Beauty”, “Leili, beloved”, “In the Garden”, “Balsayat” and others.
The leaders of the orchestra improved the dutar and gidjak on the basis of the Tashkent Research Institute, introducing such varieties into the folk orchestra as prima-, second-, alto-, bass-, contrabass-dutar and four-string gidjak, which gave the collective’s sound an expressive symphony.
Decades later, in 1984, this orchestra was named after Purli Saryev in memory of his great contribution to the formation and development of this unique group.
In addition to leading the orchestra, Purli Saryev constantly cultivated his abilities as a performer, accompanied and performed with famous musicians and bakhshi Tachmammet Suhangulyev, Garly bakhshi, Magtymguly Garlyev, Sakhy Jepbarov and others.
Purli Saryev dedicated his first work, written by him as a composer in 1934, to the blessed memory of his father. It is called so - “Dedication” (“Bagyşlanýar”).
In 1939, Purli Saryev was awarded the first prize at the All-Union Review of Folk Musicians in Moscow. He composed new songs, music for the orchestra of folk instruments. Later, in 1951, Purli Saryev took part in the preparation of the textbook “Learning to play the dutar from music”. In 1961, together with other composers, he published a collection of songs for the dutar to the poem by Magtymguly Pyragy. Many records of folk melodies performed by Purli Saryev are stored in the “golden” radio fund of Turkmenistan.
The program of the anniversary concert at the TNC included works by Purli Saryev performed by the conservatory’s orchestra of folk instruments led by Honored Artist, Conductor Omar Igamov, soloists Kerven Yovbasarov, Muhammetdurdy Muhammetniyazov and Akmurad Charyev and others, including students of the higher music school carrying on the traditions of the famous Turkmen musicians.
Agajan ACHILOV
